1:39 p.m. There are many grade races held this weekend, I can't decide which one to call. What should I do?

There will be Miyako Stakes, a step for Champions' Cup held in Kyoto on Sunday, while Argentina Republic Cup is held in Tokyo on the same day. On Monday, 3 integrated G1 race will be run on Urawa tracks, JBC Sprint, JBC Ladies' Classic and JBC Classic.

Miyako Stakes has interesting names lined up from Inti (why isn't Yutaka riding?) to Wide Pharaoh. But I need to call all 3 of the JBC races, as I'm going out to buy betting tickets. There's just too much to chew here.

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Caterpillar

1:46 p.m. Have been pretty much confused but decided to call Miyako Stakes for today, and one out of the three JBC G1s tomorrow. Note that I'm not planning to buy betting tickets tomorrow.

Inti's performance would probably be not so bad even after a break, so will key Inti. On the wheel I'll put Admire Victor, Rabbit Run, Wide Pharaoh, Nova Lenda and Westerlund. Sumahama's record win was outstanding however, high performance almost always demands a price to pay.

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Caterpillar

5:29 p.m. What happened to Inti? I wasn't watching the race so I went online to check the results and the top 5 or 6 favored horses had all sunk. Inti's performance seemed the worst, even taking the rather tight lap in account. Must review the race to find out what had happened to the horse.

Decided to call JBC Classic out of the 3 G1s held tomorrow. My key is Centurion. Don't seem to have many options to put on the wheel besides Omega Perfume and Chuwa Wizard, but if either of them would sink, then it should be Omega Perfume. Just in case that happens, will include Lord Golazo in my wheel.

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Caterpillar

10:24 p.m. Thank you, dear Centurion!

If you wouldn't have strived to come in 3rd place, then the payout must have been way too low with the top favored two horses finishing one-two. Thanks to you, I've won a triplet in a while.

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Caterpillar

3:35 p.m. I made a mistake. It wasn't a triplet I won, it was a trifecta. Have also won trio, too. It feels great to win trifectas regardless of the pay-out amount.

So far I seem to be doing pretty well in my calling this season, too good for me in my opinion. Better keep it up as the season goes on.

This week it's the Queen Elizabeth Cup, a race in which this year's defeatless over-weight Japanese Oaks winner is entered...

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Caterpillar

1:53 p.m. My friends and I were relieved when I picked up some article on the web Monday night, reporting that Almond Eye has chosen Japan Cup as her last race.

Today it transpired that that article must have been fake news. Silk Horse Club owner/management of Almond Eye has officially announced today that Almond Eye has entered Hong Kong Cup held at Sha-Tin on December 8th.

A huge disappointment. So let down I'm lost for words.

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Caterpillar

2:14 p.m. Before I knew it, it's already Thursday. Better start talking about Queen Elizabeth Cup.

The center of attention is probably whether the Oaks winner Loves Only You would beat Shuka-sho champion Chrono Genesis or not. Well, it depends on the condition of both horses. Loves Only You is rumored to be overweight, which the trainer clearly denies as "growth". The break since the Oaks being nearly 6 months long is also a factor that might affect Loves Only You's performance.

On the other hand, Chrono Genesis has already run a race to prove she can perform well. Though that can be a double-edged sword considering the time to recover from her Shuka-sho win. So which should I key?

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Caterpillar

3:58 p.m. The barrier draw for Queen Elizabeth Cup has been announced.

There's been a little accident with Frankie, but Miyuki has apparently covered up the loss. Christophe Soumillon might get another what-for for hustling as Lucky Lilac has drawn an inner post.

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Caterpillar

7:24 p.m. I'm sorry for the delay, but I've been moaning to squeeze out my answer, believe me.

After all the struggling and the thinking, I ended up with Loves Only You as my key. I wouldn't say I guarantee, but no one could complain if she easily swept up all her seniors. On the wheel would be Lucky Lilac, Uranus Charm, Crocosmia, Chrono Genesis, Miss Mamma Mia, and Scarlet Color. Will narrow down to 4 or 5 horses by tomorrow, but this was the best I could do today.

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Caterpillar

5:12 p.m. All the channels were broadcasting our new Emperor's parade live (did it have to be LIVE in Tokyo?) and TV Fuji didn't air horse race. Well, it's Fuji, they can't help it. So I went on to check the results of Queen Elizabeth Cup online. Will have to check the movie later.

Lucky Lilac... after all this time I've supported her and got let down so many times and finally decided that maybe, she'll have one last chance to win a G2 but not G1, she wins. Remeber I've written yesterday that I would narrow down my wheel to 4 or 5 horses? What happened was, I've cut out Lucky Lilac...

Again, I've lost in my own betting while announcing my call right. What a people pleaser!

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Caterpillar

2:53 p.m. There are some things to learn from my Queen Elizabeth Cup loss including, why I'd cut out Lucky Lilac instead of Uranus Charm.

Will have to work hard and fast though, as I've got tons of things to do as usual and Mile Championship is coming up right behind. A pretty good succession of names I see on the entry list meaning it's going to be a mixed race, not if a wild race.

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Caterpillar

6:39 p.m. I was surprised to see that the rider of Indy Champ has changed to Kenichi Ikezoe from Yuichi Fukunaga. Fukunaga has been riding Indy Champ both in training and on the tracks and won Yasuda Kinen. Then why are they changing the rider?

It seems like Fukunaga had done a blunder and got a suspension penalty. Oh, no.

But then, the following article about Omega Perfume got me more worried. Omega Perfume has been officially announced to run in Champions' Cup with Lanfranco Dettori as the rider. Aw, they'd taken the JBC Classic loss quite seriously. Things are getting harder for Mirco these days.

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Caterpillar

4:04 p.m. Was thinking I should start searching about Mile Championship, after I finish organizing my thoughts on the relationship between Fuchu-hinba Stakes and Queen Elizabeth Cup. But then, I remembered I hadn't done my Tenno-sho report yet...ugh.

It might sound like a waste of time to some people however, I believe there's no improvement or development without thorough reviews. Come to think of it, my call for G1 races have been winning 4 times in a row thankfully, which could be the result of last year's review.

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Caterpillar

4:13p.m. Red Olga was the only horse entering Mile Championship that still haven't had the rider decided, but today it has been announced to be Mirai Iwata. Aw.. Mirco couldn't secure even the last saddle...

Meanwhile, I've been diligently working on the background search of Mile Championship. As I've mentioned a couple of days ago, it's looking like a mixed race so it's not easy to point out a horse assuring enough to be keyed. I'm doing the best I can, though.

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Caterpillar

2:19 p.m. Okay, the barrier draw for Mile Championship has been announced so let's take a look.

Danon Premium has drawn a good post, I think. Indy Champ, too. There are elements of concern for Indy Champ, especially involving the rider. As for Danon Kingly, can't tell if this draw turns out for good or for bad, since post number one could be an advantage to some horses but not for others.

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Caterpillar

7:36 p.m. We�fve had another incident. Our main computer has stopped operating after Windows major update distributed yesterday afternoon. It�fs been eating up time and I haven�ft been able to do anything except for some urgent business. Even while I�fm tapping this on my iPad, non-English speaker Cow interrupts me making me translate the English logs.

So I�fm sorry to have to say I haven�ft been able to decide my key horse yet at this moment. Have narrowed my options down to 6 which are Danon Kingly (rather skeptical), Indy Champ, Persian Knight, Mozu Ascot, Danon Premium (also skeptical) and Diatonic, but this was the furthest I got to.

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Caterpillar

10:39 p.m. Oh god, I've done it again. I've cut out Persian Knight and Diatonic at the last moment and included My Style, Fiano Romano and Al Ain instead...

I wish I'd bubbled in Persian Knight by mistake if I was buying Fiano Romano, let alone Al Ain. Stupid me, stupid me! Or rather, Oisin Murphy could have showed a bit more mercy and let My Style come in 3rd.

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Caterpillar

3:50 p.m. Good grief, we�fve been met with another incident of papa-cow knocking down my piled up notebook tower and a plant on the desk, scattering soil, pens, pencils along with some other items. I had three clay monkeys on the desk but one have gone missing not yet to be recovered. They were hand-made, as a gift from one of my clients.

While the old man doesn�ft even apologize for what he�fd done, I am totally pissed off. There are some things you just can�ft forgive.

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Caterpillar

7:07 p.m. One trouble after another. We've finally recovered operation on our main computer and tried to get rid of the application we suspected to be the cause of this problem. However, this application refuses to stop running, let alone deleted...

Will have to keep searching for a solution as this application is likely to cause trouble when there's another major Windows update. Sigh. Will someone give me enough time to focus on my own things, please? It's the high season for horse racing, you know?

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Caterpillar

4:26 p.m. I've succeeded in deleting 9 out of 10 of the remaining unwanted files and folders. The last one is putting up a tough battle against me. Well, you wait and see, I can be really persistent if need be. Though I will have to put that aside for now, I got more urgent things to do.

I wonder if Loves Only You is really going to race in Japan Cup, by the way? While Mirco has already been booked for Taisei Trail? Who would the rider be? If Loves Only You is entering Japan Cup for sure, then the situation is going to change and the key horse I've saved up until now might (have to) change.

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Caterpillar

4:51 p.m. The barrier draw for Japan Cup has been announced. Hey, I haven't done anything yet!

What happened to Loves Only You? Ah, she's going to Hong Kong. That is risky though, considering the current situation of Hong Kong.

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Caterpillar

1:49 p.m. The weather has suddenly changed. It's expected to rain all day today until tomorrow morning and there's a chance of rain on both Saturday and Sunday. Weekend rain is one of the most troubling factor when calling a race. You can't tell the track condition until the race.

If the track becomes soft, horses starting from inner posts positioning themselves up front to lead the race will have the advantage in Japan Cup. It will be difficult for the trailers to take over. Whereas if the track is dry and firm, it might become an instantaneous speed contest depending on the pace. Sigh. I don't know why but somehow the hurdle seems to be raised every time I try to jump.

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Caterpillar

5:11 p.m. Sorry for the delay, folks. There's been another glitch and everything got delayed.

So here's my call for Japan Cup. Will key Curren Bouquet d'or on a wheel of Wagnerian, You Can Smile, Rey de Oro, Look Twice and Cheval Grand. Rather skeptical of You Can, Rey de Oro and Cheval, but I thought I ought to learn a thing or two from my mistake involving Lucky Lilac.

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Caterpillar

10:46 p.m. Arrrrgh! Suave Richard... If I were buying Heart's Cry descendants because the track was lamost yielding, I should have bought the younger one, not Cheval. And it's always a Heart's Cry descendant that stops a Deep Impackt decendant winning.

It was just wishful thinking to hope for five wins in a row, I guess.

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Caterpillar

4:04 p.m. Another busy week with possibly tons of troubles to come... But there's something I must give top priority to. That is to buy myself a new bluetooth keyboard. My old one has been gradually losing keys that function properly.

It started from the number 1 key which also shared the exclamation point. I managed by typing in "e;one" and then choosing from the options suggested however, the disfunctional keys have now expanded to the right area where the arrow keys are and most importantly, the enter key is. It's been only a year since I'd bought the keyboard and I'm very much disappointed, though I need one desperately since a bluetooth keyboard is a must item for me when working outside of office.

I briefly recalled Champions' Cup and decided I could catch up later in the week after the barriers have been drawn.

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Caterpillar

6:18 p.m. Today's tasks almost finished but this, shopping done, payments paid. If all goes well without incident, my new bluetooth keyboard will be delivered by the end of this week.

That leaves my only concern, Inti. Inti has been met with a fatal loss in his previous race, Miyako Stakes. I've been concerned of his damage both mental and physical but haven't heard any news on that so far. If there's nothing wrong with the horse, Chukyo 1800m would not be an obstacle for Inti who's already beaten Chuwa Wizard in Tokai stakes. Inti can be quite tough if he can take the lead and have the race to his own.

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Caterpillar

3:30 p.m. While we were at the off-track betting last Sunday, there was an accident in Keihan-hai. Fantasist had been hit by a heart attack and collapsed on the track during the race. The rider, Suguru Hamanaka had been thrown off the horse. He'd been stepped on by horses and was reported to have serious injury. I thought that must have been the price for his D'erby win.

But I hadn't checked further information on Hamanaka's condition and was beginning to feel uneasy, so I asked professor Google to fill me in on the details. Fractures were found in his left collarbone, both shoulder blades, five ribs, four or five parts of thoracic vertebra, and the back of his left hand. Oh, gees. However, the jockey is conscious and seems to be willing to make his come back by next spring. Take care and good luck, Hamanaka.

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Caterpillar

4:59 p.m. The barrier draw for Champions' Cup has been announced.

Looks like favored horses have all drawn good posts. Now that the barriers have been out, I'll have to start pondering about the race.

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Caterpillar

1:57p.m. Currently, the most favored in win odds is Gold Dream, not Chrysoberyl. This was unexpected, as I thought Chrysoberyl would be the most favored.

The reason asuumingly, is that although Chrysoberyl hasn't been defeated in his career yet, he hasn't raced with top horses before. This fact pobaly make people worry if the new comer could perform well against horses like Gold Dream, Chuwa Wizard, Omega Perfume or Inti. These horses have all won a G1 already. Will stay on the look out to see how the odds are going to move tomorrow.

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Caterpillar

6:48 p.m. I'm sorry, I'm even delayed than last week. I've been stuck at work.

For Champions' Cup, I'll key Gold Dream believing his trustworthiness and his stability. On the wheel would be Chuwa Wizard, Inti, Chrysoberyl, Omega Perfume and Satono Titan. I can't put complete trust on Chrysoberyl winning against all these veterans, so decided to put him on the wheel.

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Caterpillar